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My mother at 95 yo went from 175 lbs down to 125 lbs in roughly 2 yrs. She had invasive squamous cell skin cancer and I think her body was using a lot of energy to maintain her strength. She too ate well and did well on a daily basis to maintain her home, but the skin cancer won out in the end. She ended up with cancer in other parts of the body and decided not to treat.
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TChamp Apr 2022
I'm glad you decided not to "treat" her cancer. That would have killed her sooner. That was a perfectly normal death. Nobody dies naturally with a healthy body. Something has to happen (disease) to give us the last push.
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She needs to see a doctor ASAP.
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My mother was losing weight and since she loved ice cream, every night around 8:30 we would fix her an ice cream dish to include chocolate Ensure poured on top and she started to gain her weight back. However, doctor needs to be involved to do a work up.
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can we ask why she has a colostomy bag ie did she have colon cancer?she needs to get a workup at the dr - it could be many things from her telling you she is eating(when she is not) to thyroid to cancer.....does she feel weak from all this weight loss?
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She either may have problems with digestion - producing enzymes to break down food, absorbing food, or it passes to quickly through her system... OR, she may have developed diabetes. Please get her in to see her doctor pronto so that this can be addressed. She will need some tests and might even need to be hospitalized for a few days.
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Is 105 a healthy weight for her based on her size? How long did it take for her to go from 150 down to 105?

Are you sure she is eating the food and not eating and throwing it up? or eating and having diarrhea? or worse, acting like she is eating but actually tossing the food because it didn't taste good? Does #2 (output from the body) align with the amount of food that she is taking in?

Assuming none of the above is happening, I agree, it is time for a full blood panel analysis. Make sure they check for thyroid which is an "extra" test.

In addition, I have read (and do believe) that the "elderly" body is not as efficient at absorbing nutrients from food, some bodies more than others. That is why the suggestion of taking a daily multi-vitamin and especially vitamin D and/or vitamin B12 supplement. However, a complete blood panel analysis would be able to point out any known vitamin deficiencies.

Is she seeing a doctor for an annual or bi-annual? Has the doctor commented on the change in weight?
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Check her thyroid. I lost 10 pounds last year without trying and was diagnosed with Graves’ disease, a form of hyperthyroidism.
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Mum went through a drastic weight loss as well. Turns out her thyroid incredibly overactive (treated now with meds) and as an added bonus other symptoms of this are irritability, restlessness, and anxiety which in mum's case (alzheimers) was/is another layer of navigation. Good news is the anti anxiety medication she is on is now significantly lowered so side effects have decreased as well.
We now have "Pie Lunch Wednesdays"!
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Leave her alone. If there is anything serious about her not gaining weight, it's too late to do anything. Let her enjoy whatever life she has left. Forget about seeing doctors or having tests, for what?
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newbiewife Apr 2022
I don't understand why you are so consistently negative about trying any actions for treatment or comfort for the elderly. The weight loss could be a totally treatable condition, with a non-invasive solution. Losing too much weight for whatever reason can have all kinds of cascading negative consequences.
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Lealonnie1: Yes, I am somewhat acquainted with the course that dementia takes, since my mom inherited this from my grandmother. My grandmother weighed probably about 75 lbs by the time she died, and she had excellent personal attention nursing care in a small facility.

My mom still knows how to use an oven and microwave. I often "let" her cook lunch for the 2 of us, because it's helpful to her to feel as if she's useful in some way. Also, I keep her fridge and pantry stocked with everything from fresh organic veggies to cake and ice cream, in order to tempt her failing appetite.

One thing I learned from watching my dad die -- throw out the diet cookbooks at the end! The important thing is just to get them to eat something...no matter whether it's "health" food or not.

I hate Dementia too. It's become my Nemesis.
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When was your mom's last full checkup with her PCP?

Weight loss, when not purposely dieting, can be due to a number of illnesses, some of them very serious.

My 91 year old mom has gone from 145 lbs to 113 in one year. She also has a well stocked pantry, freezer and refrigerator and generally shows a normal appetite when eating around others.

Still, I'm worried, and I've taken her to the doctor twice so far since beginning caretaking earlier this year. So far, everything checks out ok physically; mentally, it's apparent to everyone that Mom's in the early to mid stages of Alzheimers.
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lealonnie1 Apr 2022
Katy; she could be forgetting to eat; forgetting HOW to cook and/or the steps to prepping food/using the microwave, etc. With ALZ at play, her tastes could have changed; they like the taste of sweet now, for the most part; you might try yoghurts and milkshakes/higher calorie/dense foods that taste good to HER vs. 'healthy' choices that have few calories. They often need prompting to eat, esp if she's in IL where they're not looked after quite like they are in AL/MC. You may already know all this, I just thought I'd let you know; also, as ALZ progresses, they lose their appetite. I watched my mother do that, and she used to be able to eat my DH under the table!!! Huge appetite went down to pushing food around on a plate and refusing COOKIES!! I hate dementia.
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She could have an over active thyroid or Graves desease. She needs labs done.
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Your mother needs a full medical work up and testing to see what the reason is for her drastic weight loss. Is she having pain in any part of her body that would be an indicator of which area might benefit from a CT scan looking for a culprit?

Best of luck
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I had the same problem with my father. He turned out to have a chronic inflammatory disorder and wasn't absorbing nutrients. As was mentioned, I would take her to the doctor and have them do a full workup.
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What does her physician say about this?
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